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Game Name - Blades of Time
Blades of Time - Limited Edition
Developer - Gaijin Entertainment
Publisher - Konami
Platforms - Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC Windows
ESRB Rating - Mature
Author - ipino
E-Mail - lonzy2 NO&AT#SPAM operamail.com
(replace &AT# with a @ symbol, and remove "NO" and "SPAM")
Website - http://www.ipino.altervista.org
Date Started - 2012/04/19
Last Update - 2012/05/01
Version - 0.65
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This guide is for private and personal use only. No part or whole of this
document shall be reproduced in any form whatsoever. This document is free and
may not be used for any commercial uses. This document may not be altered
without permission from the author.
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Thanks to the innovative, and exclusive, 3D-Guide Navigation System, you can
jump to a certain (sub)section thanks to the unique mnemonic code!
a) Highlight the subsection code on the right. Either with or without the
brackets is the same.
b) Copy it into the clipboard with CTRL+C
c) Open the find window. Usually for Windows programs you need to hit CTRL+F
d) Paste the code into the box with CTRL+V
e) hit the "Find" or similar button to find the first occurrence. To find next
occurrences hit the F3 key.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
-----------------
1. Introduction.....................................................(01INT)
2. Disclaimer.......................................................(02DIS)
3. Revision History.................................................(03HIS)
4. Contact Policy...................................................(04CON)
5. General gameplay tips............................................(05GGP)
6. Story mode Walkthrough (Normal difficulty).......................(06SWN)
6.1 Level 1: Volcanic Dale....................................(6NVOL)
6.2 Level 2: Jungle...........................................(6NJUN)
6.3 Level 3: Human Base.......................................(6NHUM)
6.4 Level 4: Temple...........................................(6NTEM)
6.5 Level 5: Desert...........................................(6NDES)
6.6 Level 6: Sky Islands......................................(6NSKI)
6.7 Level 7: Sky Docks........................................(6NSKD)
6.8 Level 8: Brutal Lands.....................................(6NBRL)
6.9 Level 9: Brutal Town......................................(6NBRT)
6.10 Level 10: Dragon Temple...................................(6NDRT)
7. Dismal Swamp Walkthrough.........................................(07DSW)
8. Frequently Asked Questions.......................................(08FAQ)
9. Contributing Readers.............................................(09CON)
10. Thanks...........................................................(10TNX)
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1. Introduction (01INT)
Welcome back to another innocent guide written by yours truly. First of all my
"mystical" email account was terminated, thus I had to switch to another one,
which means all emails sent are lost for good, and I apologise for that.
In this guide I will not talk about things like controls, what options do,
bla bla - only what matters is here.
I will not tell you which skills to get first, because you must enjoy the game
not follow my worthless advices. Infact, being it impossible not to get skills
I'd like to do a non-equipment upgrade run sometime just for fun, but in these
days I only play the game to make videos, adjust strategies, fix things, take
screenshots and the like.
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2. Disclaimer (02DIS)
I worked hard on putting up this document. No one, except sites listed below,
can host it in their sites. This is only for private use. You can store it on
your own hard drive, burn it onto your personal cd/dvd backup, give it to your
friend, but you can't get money out of it, nor you can claim it as your.
Allowed sites to display this document, in its original text format, are:
http://www.gamefaqs.com
http://ipino.altervista.org
Please ask my permission before putting it on your website, thanks.
Before stealing anything from this faq ask permission or at least credit me.
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3. Revision History (03HIS)
Things change... and this document does too. And we tend to lose track of
what's changed...
Version 0.56 to 0.65 (2012/04/25-2012/05/01)
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- Finished the game in Hard difficulty, now starting again and making videos
- Made several changes to boss tactics, taking into account their Hard mode
behaviour
Version 0.00 to 0.55 (2012/04/19-2012/04/25)
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- Levels 1-5 are done; I haven't beaten 6 yet.
- Done a lot of techical stuff to convert the guide in multiple formats
(html, wiki, text 80 cols)
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4. Contact Policy (04CON)
You are welcome to contact me at the email address written at the top of this
document. If you do, please put something like "Blades of Time FAQ" or just
"BOT FAQ" (if you're too lazy to type the whole thing) in the subject, and
then tell me about how many mistakes have you have found, location of things
I missed, combat strategies, and so forth. You will get credit of course.
And your email won't be made public unless you ask to.
Please cleanly state on your email the nickname you want to appear as, as well
as if you want your email address to appear (the "@" symbol will be replaced,
don't worry). If you won't say anything, I'll assume you don't want your
email to be spread.
You can also mail to ask permission to host this document on your site.
You may also mail me to report broken links (especially for videos and images)
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5 General gameplay tips (05GGP)
PC Version
----------
On Windows 7, saves are stored in "%LocalAppData%\BladesOfTime\", so I assume
other versions store them in "%HomePath%\AppData\Local\BladesOfTime\"
General
-------
#1: Health regenerates if you let your rage meter expire
#2: You get one Heal Point for free if you aren't fighting
When fighing a bunch of enemies
-------------------------------
#1: Getting surrounded by enemies is usually a bad idea as they tend to shred
Ayumi's health if you're not careful
#2: Unless the game doesn't allow you to, abuse your Time Rewind skill, as it
enhances damage power
#3: Take cover from long-range attacking foes and focus on those near you
#4: Avoid fighting enemies unless you can't proceed (chaos walls, corals not
reachable yet, etc)
Level specific tips are in the relevant level section
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6 Story mode Walkthrough (06SWN)
Before we begin, a few words about this section. First of all I can't help but
being this detailed; the compass is a great aid in navigating the levels and
finding hidden chests. So much it is insulting. The real hazard in this game
is the few enemies that must be killed using the unique Time Rewind feature.
______________________________________________________________________________
6.1 Level 1: Volcanic Dale (6NVOL)
Treasure chests: 3 Journal Pages: 5
Beginning area
--------------
After the opening cut scene, prepare to battle 4x Dragonpath Guardians. If
this is your first time through, you have to kill them only with kicks and
swords attacks.
You're then introduced to your compass: the inner arrow shows you which
direction you should go in order to advance; the outer arrow points to the
nearest treasure chest - if there's one, it'd start glowing.
This area has three chests. Use the compass to go to the first one, which
contains a pair of [Swords of Dragon Might]. Now use the compass again and
open the two chests that are opposite and in line with the one you just
opened.
The dragon thing at the beginning of the intro movie will become climbable,
so get up there and walk inside. Another 4x Dragonpath Guardians to fight,
then go meet the Altar.
Lava tower
----------
Use the mechanism to open the geared door. Oh man, is Ayumi gonna complain
about everything 'till the end of the game? She better not. Anyway proceed and
after the scene run up, double jumping and dashing where needed. As you climb
up you'll notice a closing door on your left.
Upon reaching the top, time will stop and go in reverse. What is happening?
Go down and enter the door that closed on you earlier.
Narrow passageways
------------------
Proceed forward to have time resume its flow. Fight or run past 3x Spiders,
go upstairs and follow the path. Turn left when you encounter the magic wall.
[Naturalist's travel writings Page 1] will be automatically picked by Ayumi
upon entering the round room. Step on the switch to unlock the "liquefied"
path, and fight 3x Dragonpath Guardians. Once they're dead you can perform
finishing moves on critically wounded enemies: try them on the 3x Spiders that
just appeared. Exit the room and turn left (where the magic wall was).
As you approach the exit Ayumi comments about a flower. Getting close to the
door make a lone Locust spawn. Keep moving forward past another magic wall,
grab the [Skyward Assault Rifle] from the ground, shoot the magic lock, fight
2x Dragonpath Guardians, go where the magic wall was and operate the
mechanism.
Large courtyard #1
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Move a bit forward and ready your rifle to bring down a Chaos Observer on the
wall ahead. Don't go too far ahead, 3x Locusts are lurking around the corner.
Go back, pick up [Naturalist's travel writings Page 2] and inch your nose
around the corner: 2x Chaos Observers are in this area and ideally you might
wanna take the farthest out by standing by the fire near the corner. 3x
Locusts will charge at you afterwards.
Large courtyard #2
------------------
The next is tricky. You'll meet new enemies: Humans and Poisonous Spiders.
Humans are likely to get killed by the Spiders, however there is gonna be an
infinite amount of those as long as you let them "reproduce", meaning spit
their spidery ball-thing.
If this is your first playthrough, it may be tough without target lock-on,
dash-to-target and no magic. What you want to do is to pay attention to those
web balls and destroy them before they have a chance to hatch, then go after
the spider that spat them. And don't forget to abuse finishing moves.
After spiders are dealt with, go toward the nearby Altar. Choose one of two
magic skills:
# Freeze
Freezes your target, immobilising it and dealing damage
# Ignition
Sets enemies in front of you on fire, dealing damage over time
and get the only ability the Altar has for you this time:
% Dash to object
Grants players the ability to dash to flying corals
Why is the Altar calling Ayumi a "player" is totally out of context - are
adventurers and treasure hunters known as players down here? Who knows, who
cares.
You are automatically teleported by the Altar to the training area, where
you'll learn how to use your chosen magic skill. This will happen each time
you learn an attack spell.
Go toward the big gate to hear Ayumi comment about it, then go through the
narrow passage.
Spiral area with huge tree
--------------------------
You'll see some corals you can dash to and from, however don't rush outside
just yet, the place is infested with 4x Chaos Observers. For the first one,
get under the archway and look up as much as you can and a little to the left.
The second one is clearly visible on the pillar to the right.
Before going up, go behind the giant column to open chest #2 with a [Diamond
Ring]. Use the corals to go up and quickly kill the third Chaos Observer. Go
up the four corals and kill the fourth Chaos Observer. Enter room.
As you wander around, 4x Dragonpath Guardians animate, so kill'em and step on
the switch. Go back to the giant gate and kill another 2x Chaos Observers.
Grab [Naturalist's travel writings Page 3]. Go inside, step on the mechanism
to summon 3x Locusts. Go back and take the now-open right path.
Bridge area
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You arrive in a large outside area, with humans fighting 5x Tribal Lost
Souls. You can kill them in several ways: dashing on to them and attack them
while airborne (like good old Nightshade) or go the old fashion way with your
rifle - in your first playthrough you can only do the latter because Ayumi
hasn't learnt Dash to Enemy yet.
Ignore the two guys and go after treasure #3, containing [Ruby Amulet].
Shoot the parasites that prevent you from dashing to corals, as instructed.
There's [Naturalist's travel writings Page 4] on top of the pillar between the
second and the third coral: jump once from the former to land on it.
Bridge area #2 + Altar
----------------------
Drop down and go toward the Altar that has one new gift:
# Heavy Strike
Deals damage to the enemies around you
and one important passive ability:
% Dash to Enemy
Grants players the ability to dash to enemies. Very useful against flying
creatures.
That's not right - Very useful against everything! Anyway yet another broken
bridge ahead, but 3x Tribal Lost Souls are conveniently placed on the other
side for you to dash to.
Move forward for your first...
BOSS FIGHT - Gateguard
----------------------
This cyclopic beast has rocket launchers on each shoulder: destroy them
before everything else. Dash away from the giant thing if you can't target or
are unable to dash to them. Don't use magic just yet.
As you've dispatched its arms, hit its torso and/or legs (caution!) only with
swords to cause it to break down and fall on the floor (watch out for the
shock wave), then spam magic to deal massive damage and bring its life down.
Repeat until he's dead.
Leaving
-------
After he's gone, approach the cylindrical shaped metal object for a brief cut
scene, then use your innate Time Rewind ability to activate the two platforms
at the same time. If you don't get it this is how it's done: step on one
platform and wait a couple of seconds, then push the time rewind button until
you see yourself moving towards the platform. At this point release the button
and rush to the other platform, and stand there.
Before leaving though, go grab the [Naturalist's travel writings Page 5] in
this area.
The metal object thing is actually a teleporter that takes you to the next
level.
______________________________________________________________________________
6.2 Level 2: Jungle (L2JU)
Treasure chests: 3 Journal Pages: 1
After entering the second stage, and noticing you can't use the teleporter to
go back, go near the Altar. It doesn't sell any new magic, except for those
you haven't bought yet. As for abilities, a plethora of delicious stuff is
available:
% Ignition Mastery
The Ignition spell has a wider area of effect
% Freeze Mastery
The Freeze spell has a wider area of effect
% Critical Strike
Your Heavy Strike has the ability to deal double damage
% Headshot Rage
Headshots fired from a rifle give you more rage
Chaos zone
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Proceed and enter the creepy dark area ahead: it's a Chaos zone, where your
time abilities don't work, your movements are much slower and where you have
to cast a protective Order spell in order to fight enemies, should you
encounter them. And most of the times you will.
Anyway as expected monsters lurk in here: Chaos Monsters. Don't forget to
renew your Sphere of Order spell whenever you move away from it or when it
expires.
Proceed and dispatch 5x Tribal Zombie Fighter. They're tough but overall
easier than the damn Locusts.
Continue forward and get rid of the 2x Tribal Zombie Spearmen with your
rifle. Destroy the obelisk to make the magic wall disappear, shoot the
parasite on the coral opposite the ledge and jump down.
Large area
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This huge area will serve you a couple of tough battles.
You have to deal with a Tribal Zombie Heavy wearing magic armor, which will
collapse only under a high rate of fire. Your fiery friend will tell you
exactly what you need to do. Usually 3 or 4 copies of Ayumi (i.e. rewind time
twice or thrice) are enough. When you see him fall down, get near him to
execute a finishing move. If it isn't enough rewind time again and hit him
while do you the finishing move.
As soon as he's dead another Tribal Zombie Heavy, without magical protection,
enters the arena. This tough guy can't be attacked from the front, nor his
shield can be knocked off in any way. Again, time rewind and attack him from
behind, but try to stay close enough to perform finishing moves, yet far
enough not to get hit by his club.
After a while, 3x Tribal Zombie Spearmen and 3x Tribal Zombie Fighters joins
the feast. Get rid of the spearmen before killing the Fighters, to make your
life a little easier. Another 2x Tribal Zombie Fighters spawn afterwards.
After those are dead like their brothers, it's time to finally kill the magic
shielded Heavy with the usual tactic. I save him for last because he doesn't
have any long range attacks and moves pretty slowly.
A Coral leading back to the way you came will suddenly come into Ayumi's dash
range, however don't leave just yet.
Dash to the Coral that had the parasite you killed before dropping down, then
jump on the rock and open the treasure chest #4 for a [Silver Ring], the go
all the way back, and enter the swampy area with a crashed airship.
Crashed airship
---------------
Go to the left to learn about hidden treasures, which can only be seen if
under an Order spell. Take the [Topaz Amulet] inside hidden chest #5 and
proceed to the right path.
The next area is guarded by a Chaos Slasher. You're so far from home if you
think you can kill him now: should you get close to him, you'd get "sucked"
into his arms. You're hinted to use Time Rewind to lure him away and sneak
past him, but it's one of those things that fall into the "easier said than
done" category.
To proceed you have to shoot the parasite and destroy the obelisk it's on,
which means letting the Slasher see you and start moving towards you, then use
Time Rewind to rush to said obelisk and wipe it before the Slasher has a
chance to rape you.
Go to the Altar for some juicy new upgrades.
Magic skills:
# Slide Attack
Deals damage to enemies while sliding
Abilities:
% Rage Saving
Casting spells doesn't fully deplete your rage meter
% Combo Rage
You gain rage by using combos and spells
% Fire Weapon
Ignition or Massive Ignition spells inflame your weapons so that they deal
additional fire damage and ignite enemies
% Frost Weapon
Freeze or Massive Freeze spells enchant your weapons so that they start
dealing additional damage and can freeze enemies
After you're done shopping and practicing your newly acquired skill, it's
time to get on the ship. There, several Tribal Lost Souls spawn above the
ship: use air-dash to kill them and then destroy the obelisk.
The treasure your compass is sensing can't be gotten yet. Proceed ahead to
kill 2x Tribal Zombie Fighter and grab [Ship's log book Page 3].
As you run around the ship you'll meet fellow treasure hunter Michelle. When
you regain control go to the hidden treasure chest #6 nearby (use Order spell)
and grab [Swords of the Shining Star]. Move a little bit past the flower on
the left and ready your rifle to kill an annoying Chaos Observer. There's a
safe spot near the flower: the rock close to the palm tree. One more Chaos
Observer lurks a little further, however this time I couldn't find a safe
place. You'll then meet this level's angry boss.
BOSS FIGHT - Tribal Zombie Shaman Chieftain
-------------------------------------------
Don't bother with the rifle from up here; to defeat him you have to dash from
coral to coral, and hit him when he's not casting a spell. The fat ugly thing
has many spells, but has a ridicously long casting time.
The strategy here is simple: get under him, fill your rage meter and spam
skills, then rewind time. Rinse and repeat until he's dead.
When he dies, continue to the Altar, where there'll be nothing new. Upon
choosing the gift(s) you wish, a teleporter will automatically bring you to
level 3.
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6.3 Level 3: Human Base (L3HB)
Treasure chests: 2 Journal Pages: 1
Don't you just love areas with no enemies, no collectables, nothing
whatsoever to do? Proceed down the tunnel for a cutscene. Exit the ship and
approach the door's mechanism. Turns out our friend Michelle locked it so that
no one could go to the forbidden Northern Path. Which raises the question:
which of these 8x Humans carries the key? You'll soon find out, as they're all
after you, because God forbid someone doesn't do what Michelle tells them to.
Open the forbidden door and murder those 4x Humans far ahead. Avoid the
Thron on the ground, please.
Random area with annoying enemy
-------------------------------
There'll be more humans ahead but most importantly (and annoyingly) Poisonous
Spiders. Lot of. On top of that, those humans also throw grenades around. Good
thing is, they're fighting against each other, so chances are a couple of them
will get smacked by the green creatures. After you're done slaughtering
innocent humans and unlikely giant green spiders that self-replicate in a
matter of seconds, reveal hidden treasure #7 by the palm tree to snatch a
[Dragon Amulet], then go use the Altar for some hot shopping.
% Frost Strike
Your Heavy Strike deals lots of damage to frozen enemies that are low on
health
% Shadow Friend
Your shadow duplicate comes to your aid when you are low on health and
can't use the healing ability
% Slide Recovery
Your can Slide even when being hit by enemies
Ready your finger on the Time Rewind button because after you're done with
the Altar, Ayumi delivers the comment that's gonna be on everybody's mouth at
this point: our Slasher friend spawns near the door mechanism. This encounter
is harder than before because - for comparison - opening the gate takes a lot
more time than destroying an obelisk, time during which you need to keep the
slasher busy with your clone(s).
Go up the steps and claim [Naturalist's travel writings Page 6].
Treasure chest #8 is hidden where the path turns to the right: it contains
[Ring of Eternity]. Move forward for a cutscene and retreat back into the
tunnel to murder 8x Humans: a lone sniper and grenade throwing bastard is
standing on top of the wall to the right of the huge gate, while the remaining
7 are on the western wall.
Use Time Rewind to go through the gate that wouldn't stay open to clear this
very short level.
______________________________________________________________________________
6.4 Level 4: Temple (6NTEM)
Treasure chests: 2 Journal Pages: 5
You start onto a suspended bridge with 5x Humans around you. Don't forget to
grab [Naturalist's travel writings Page 7] before advancing.
Temple
------
Welcome to the awesome water reflective zone, collect [Naturalist's travel
writings Page 8]. Past the gate you'll meet another "enemy": Laser! If you
played the demo this area will look familiar, however it has some _minor_
changes, so don't rely on it too much.
As you go around the Laser, stop and snipe 2x Humans. Don't miss hidden
treasure chest #9 by the palm tree, which contains a powerful [Machine Gun].
The next area is infested with Humans. Depending on your playing skills, you
can either rush outside or slowly clear your way out with the rifle. There are
4 Humans on the left and 4 more on the right. There's also a [Naturalist's
travel writings Page 9] in this area, plus some mines scattered on the ground
for good measure, and two passageways you can't go through yet due to Chaos
walls.
Enter the big room: unlike the demo it has spikes (Thron) near the throne,
which have to be retracted by standing on the two platforms (watch out for the
mine between them) at the same time; do that and Time Rewind again to activate
the First Switch. Unlike the demo, no monsters appear, and there's no one
outside, what happened? Backtrack to finally meet fellow companion Zero, whose
mind has been brainwashed by Michelle. The good news is that he will not stand
in your way, at least for now.
Open the door and murder the 3x Humans inside. Activate the Second Switch to
spawn an enormous aulic speaking entity.
BOSS FIGHT - Skyward Heavy Infantry
-----------------------------------
He's just a nice big robot with tanks full of some mysterious concoction on
his back (I'm guessing it's grog) that grant him health regeneration. Finally
an enemy that gives Ayumi a challenge! In fact, this thing is a nightmare to
beat at first, because every pixel of damage you inflict is quickly
recovered.
The strategy here is bring his health down to roughly half, then jump on him
when the prompt appears to distract him. After the sequence ends, time rewind
and jump on him again but this time, if done right,Ayumi will cut the tubes he
uses to feed the "grog" with. This crazy grammar means he's now vulnerable!
After he's gone, go back outside: some Tribal Zombie Fighters are raping
Humans. You don't need to fight any of them, just open the door and let them
sort it out by themselves.
Next tiny area has 2 humans on the left and 2 up the stairs and they are ALL
throwing grenades at you. How sweet. Oh and there are mines all over the
stairs. Again, make the best of your Time Rewind ability.
The altar has level 2 spells finally available:
# Massive Ignition
Sets several enemies around you on fire, dealing damage over time
# Massive Freeze
Freezes enemies around you, immobilizing them and dealing damage
# Massive Heavy Strike
Deals a lot of damage to the enemies around you
Plus loads of new abilities:
% Slide Ignition
Your Slide Attack sets targets on fire
% Fire Disease
Burning enemies can set other enemies around them on fire
% Frost Weakness
Gives you a chance to deal double damage to a frozen target
% Frost Strike
Your Heavy Strike deals lots of damage to frozen enemies that are low on
health
% Fire Strike
If you hit a burning enemy with a Heavy Strike, the enemy will explode and
deal damage to other enemies that are nearby
% Elemental Power
If you inflame a frozen enemy, or freeze a burning enemy, they will receive
additional damage
% Assassin's Strike
Enemies lose part of their life force after being hit by the Heavy Strike
After you've chosen your desired means of destruction, go past the door for
some Tomb Raider-like navigation puzzles sort-of thing. Ideally you should
jump from brazier to brazier whenever the blades move away from you, however
it's easier said than done with such controls.
When you get near the rotating gear with huge spikes going downwards, take a
moment to snipe the fool that got stuck in here with you.
You'll be shown how to disable the laser. Destroy the magic locks to greatly
slower the speed of the rotating spikes. Go back and get past the door.
Laser Room Disco
----------------
Ready for some Tomb Raider/Aeon Flux-like laser dodging puzzles ? I hope you
are.
Your compass is screaming but ignore it. Focus on the lasers. Since
the HTML version isn't ready yet (I still have to take level 6+ screenshots
and make videos for 4+), I can't show you my findings with accompanying images
and stuff, but I can point you to a video of me jumping over the lasers with
almost no pain, save for the damn Thorns:
http://youtu.be/FCQkMBRMuh4
Deactivate all lasers and the chaos barrier with the switch, take [Swords of
Emerald Light] inside hidden chest #10, activate the Third Switch and exit
from this room to trigger a cutscene.
When it's over, 6x Skyward Rippers appear. Either use the pillars as a cover
or jump on them.
After another of those dumb "door won't stay open" puzzle, it's Altar time!
Nothing new available.
Portal room
-----------
Proceed to the last room, with a [Naturalist's travel writings Page 11]
somewhere.
First things first, you need to push Energy Charges toward the portal. Stand
behind the charged pillar and use your Order spell to push the charge to the
pillar *away* from you. Do this to power the right side of the teleporter.
Then do the same with the left side.
However no matter how hard you try, as you push the charges Locusts jump out
of the Chaos, jealous of your mad pushing skillz. On the left side there are
also Chaos Observers. And don't think you can power the portal and leave,
because you must kill every monster.
When you've done everything, you'd think you could finally go to the next
level, but no, there's an annoying boss that doesn't allow anyone into that
portal.
BOSS FIGHT - Skyward Commander
------------------------------
This dude can summon minions (Skyguard Light Infantry and occasionally
Locusts), cast fireballs, throw missiles, and to top all that, being this room
under Chaos influence, you are forbidden to rewind time. Most importantly he's
always floating in the air and you never know when he's gonna spam fireballs
so attacking at close range is unlikely.
I admit my strategy is slow and tedious, so please tell me or point me to
something less stressful, but it has worked in Hard difficulty but it took
FOREVER.
Rifle out. Circle around the room. Gather seal level 2 by shooting at him
mostly, or the Infantries when he's too far or I quickly need rage for an Heal
Point, wait for the big thing to dash on the ground and stop for a brief
second and unleash spells until rage runs out. By now he'd have summoned those
relentless locusts. Deal with them. Repeat.
Eventually he'll either succumb or just plain fall asleep.
______________________________________________________________________________
6.5 Level 5: Desert (6NDES)
Treasure chests: 0 Journal Pages: 0
Due to a teleporter malfunction, Ayumi ends up in this abandoned planet:
Skyguards left it after the Sun erupted.
The beauty of the place clashes with an exclusive game mechanic: since the
sun is too hot for Ayumi to bear, you must stay protected by shade, and only
step in open sunlight when absolutely needed.
There is no Altar here and nothing to grab (weapons, books, chests).
Important tip
-------------
Before we begin it's important to remind you that after clearing a wave of
enemies your health regenerates to full in a couple of seconds (when rage
Seals expire), without wasting a heal point. Health also immediately
regenerates to full whenever you re-enter a shadow after having been exposed
to the sunlight.
Ayumi needs to recover 3 energy crystals to repair the portal to continue her
journey, so let's get the task done.
Starting/Teleporter Area
------------------------
To meet the local enemies, quickly dash to the huge shadow on the left of the
portal: as you arrive, 2x Desert Zombie Fighter spawn basically on top of you,
plus 4x Desert Zombie Spearmen appear far away. This first encounter is deadly
because you have little space to maneuver and there is no safe spot against
the spearmen. Your best bet is to enter the shadow from its very left end,
perform a finishing move on a fighter as soon as the icon appears (which
should be right after they spawn), then finish the other guy while avoiding
all the shit the spearmen throw. If you stay on the left the spearmen
shouldn't spawn.
Once the fighters are dead, quickly dash under the rock. Snipe the only
spearman that can attack you and work your way to the right to kill the other
three.
Proceed to the next shadows ahead and kill the lone Desert Zombie Spearman.
Turn right for another 3x Desert Zombie Fighter. Subjugate them however you
please, wipe the parasite and dash to the other side using the coral.
First Crystal
-------------
Activate the switch to cover the passage with shadows. Open the door and jump
to the left to grab the first Energy Crystal. New friends here: some damn
jumping Desert Cuttle that never cease, and a huge Sand Worm ripped straight
from Dune. Is this planet a tribute to Arrakis? Doesn't matter, use time
rewind to kill the worm, and proceed past the parasites.
Barrier on rails
----------------
Your goal is a platform to the left, however you can't go up there yet
because the sun is blocking your path (?!), thus stand on the green switch: a
moving barrier on rails on your left will start moving: as soon as it reaches
the other end, rewind time and use said barrier's shadow as a cover to cross
the area. Here, activate the blue switch to make some other barriers shield
the path you need to take, and leave using same tactic you came.
Reach the now-safe area to the right and activate the blue switch: you just
removed shadows from a solar generator. Go up the elevator and shoot the
protective barrier (or shoot the mine below it); go up the second elevator and
prepare to quickly dash away from it, as there's no shade at the top.
Near the second crystal
-----------------------
6x Desert Zombie Fighters to fight. Abuse time rewind, then exploit the
shadow provided by the moving barrier to shoot the parasite on a coral down
the cliff and subsequently jump on it.
Jump to the other side and grab the second energy crystal, guarded by those
pesky Cuttles and another Sand Worm. Go to the narrow ledge, shoot 4 mines
and, when you can't advance any further, jump down to the right and quickly
dash to the left to be protected from the sun again. Go up that platform:
looking at the way you came, you'd see on your left a solar panel and a narrow
passage protected by lasers. Step on the switch so that a giant metal barrier
can come down and put some shadows and in an otherwise completely sunlit area.
After like 10 seconds, rewind time and go where the shadows were, then get
near the lasers and wait for them to disappear.
Activate yet another switch and quickly dash into the shadows on your left to
recover your health. Then go out again and jump from where the barrier was,
past a narrow ledge, into another metal platform. The switch here activates a
one-time only moving barrier: I repeat, this barrier doesn't come back, so
activate the switch and move along with it.
Unfortunately there are a total of 6x Desert Zombie Fighters lurking on this
path: try to cross to the other side in one piece and only there engage them.
3-Switch puzzle and third Energy Crystal
----------------------------------------
Go to the right path and go activate three switches at the same time. I stood
for 13 seconds on the first and 9 seconds on the second, each time rewinding
back until I could see shadows moving.
You can safely ignore the Worm that lurks here, he nor those little cute
jumping freaks will be able to touch Ayumi if you keep dashing.
Backtrack and take the right path towards a gate. The third and final Energy
Crystal is automagically picked up, so go ahead and activate this last switch
to make two giant barriers raise from the ground and allow you to return to
the teleporter.
BOSS FIGHT - Giant Worm
-----------------------
First of all don't get anywhere under him, he'll grab and stab you for
massive damage. Time rewind is dangerous too as he can see your "current" self
and thus would go after you and not your clones. There'll also be annoying
Cuttles jumping around.
You have to kill four tentacles, one by one, all in the same manner: when
they get down, hit them repeatedly. When they rush towards you or throw slabs
of garbage, avoid them. It's not the hardest boss in the game, just a little
patience and you can leave this place.
______________________________________________________________________________
6.6 Level 6: Sky Islands (6NSKI)
Treasure chests: 2 Journal Pages: 3
As the name suggests, this whole level is suspended in the air thanks to
corals and their huge trees. It has a delicious black and purple theme. It's
also the home of the craziest technology the Skyguards have at their disposal,
and you'll get to use some of it too!
The first thing you notice is that out of the blue you just unlocked a new
costume, the Skyguard Costume.
Suspended suspenders
--------------------
Go down the walkway and turn left for a cutscene with your master. How did he
know we arrived? He answers "I occasionally have a vision from a sphere in the
guild...", yeah, "occasionally" my ass you damn stalker! Anyway he overheard
that Skyguards and the Chaos have agreed to a truce. As always the
communication stops abruptly when Ayumi asks for clarifications.
Use the several corals to climb up. The Dragon Fiery tells you that Zero and
the other humans are likely to be at the Sky Docks, thus this is our next
destination.
Waterfall area
--------------
Approach the slanted walkway towards the waterfall, go around the huge rock
on the left to find hidden treasure #11 that contains [Swords of Anger].
Get into the flooded courtyard to get attacked by a million Locusts. Go pick
[Strange note Page 1] behind the waterfall.
Proceed for a bunch of sturdy Skyguard Light Infantries, use the button and
enter the structure.
Building
--------
Destroy the two locks, and a Skyward Heavy Infantry appears. Deal with him in
the usual way, then climb up using the corals. Go open chest #12 containing
[Chaos Amulet] and use more corals to climb up to the third lock.
Activate the now unlocked switch at the ground floor, which turns on a giant
Stargate-like network of transportation system. Jump in!
Upon arrival an Interceptor drops 4x Skyguard Light Infantries: dismember
them and stand on the nearby switch to engage a bunch of buoys which will
allow you to fly. Tap the jump button to gain altitude.
Flying section
--------------
Now you need to activate 3 switches on three different floating platforms to
disengage as many obelisks on the clearly visible circular platform, which in
turn disable a chaos wall protecting the switch to turn on another
transportation system.
From the ledge of platform you should see a small platform on your right with
[Strange note Page 2] on it. From there, you can go activate the buttons in
any order:
- Large platform with blue flowers and huge rocks: Button guarded by 5x
Skyguard Light Infantries (several more appear after you activate the switch;
ignore them and fly away)
I know they're not rocks but trunks and branches, but their colour misled me
at first
- Small platform with trees, statue, and mines: No enemies here
- Platform near buoy: The hardest since as you get near the button 4x Locusts
and 2x Skyguard Rippers appear
When all obelisks are green, go activate the Stargate-thing.
Outside the building, reach another platform and dispose of 4x Rippers and
free a bunch of corals from their parasites. Climb up but stop on the second
floating rock to pick up [Strange note Page 3]. Use the elevator (or
"eleveytah") to get attacked by more Skygyard Rippers (what else?) that move
all over the place making it hard to hit them (grrrr).
Structure
---------
Get inside the building and see if you can use Time Rewind to step on the
left button and get hold of a nice Rocket Launcher to dismember those 4x
Skyguard Light Infantries. Afterwards use the other button: if you stay
inside, more enemies arrive, but if you exit no one does.
Leave the RPG and jump to the other building, climb up and pickup another
Rocket Launcher on your right to blow up more Skyguard Light Infantries and 2x
Skyguard Rippers. Open the door to enter the next level but bring the RPG
along.
______________________________________________________________________________
6.7 Level 7: Sky Docks (6NSKD)
Treasure chests: 1 Journal Pages: 3
You start off right from the end of the previous level, meaning you get to
have a Rocket Launcher only if you brought it from the previous level, and
believe me it makes a whole lot of difference.
6x Skyguard Rippers infest the starting area, and you should by now know how
much I hate those things. Theoretically you could dash onto them but the
camera goes all crazy here and landing becomes an issue since many of them
hover over a bottomless pit.
If you don't have the RPG your best bet is to use a Rifle and try to stay
covered, and of course to kick back their beacons.
Energy bulbs puzzle
-------------------
Climb up for a cut scene and 3x Skyguard Light Infantries marching towards
you. Kill more of them ahead on a dome-like structure and use Order spell to
connect the mechanism: use it only on the three things that have tubes coming
in and out. When they're connected they emanate a blue field between them:
basically you have to run around and cast Order on each one of them until you
arrive again where you started, cast Order on it to severe the connection.
Treasure #13
------------
If you go where the docked ships are, you should see a bunch of corals
leading up toward a tall circular structure. The chest is on the very top
platform and contains [Old Wars Rifle].
Proceed to the elevator and enter a room with a lone Skyguard Light Infantry.
Step on the switch to activate yet another elevator that carries the Chaos
Slasher (it's always the same guy) on it. Distract the Slasher and land on the
platform to reach another dome-like structure; activate the two crystals with
your Order spell, which spawn 4 Light Infantries, and run up.
Sky Docks
---------
Pick up the Rocket Launcher and subjugate everything in sight, including a
Heavy Infantry. Watch out for enemies that activate their magic shield, as
always. Afterwards take down 6x Skyguard Interceptors: note that you can use
Time Rewind to "bring them back" should they move out of your rockets'
trajectory.
Go down the path, activate two more switches with Order spell and pickup
[Strange note Page 4]. Backtrack and have more fun with the RPG blasting
Skyguard cannon fodder, then go in the laser infested zone to break an
obelisk. This activates an elevator downstairs, the slowest in history I might
add. And guess what, a bunch of Skyguard Rippers arrive as you painfully wait
for the thing to reach the next platform.
Sky docks, energy bulbs puzzle
------------------------------
Subjugate more of those useless Skyguard Light Infantries, then get near the
ship for a cut scene, backtrack and climb up on the second floor of the
structure.
Here's a rough diagram of the situation, of course not drawn to scale:
*(#)* _________
######### I apologise for the horrible ascii drawing. I put
######### names on each thing to guide you properly. N are
####################### those without any wire attached.
# X1 Y1 #
# ############### # You have to short-circuit the 3 "X" and "Y" things
# N # # Y2# just like you did before.
# # # #
# X2# # # Basically go to X1 and use Order spell,then use it
# # # N # while near X2, then go to X3 and do the same.
# ############### # Return to X1 to short-circuit this side of the
# X3 Y3 # circuit, creating a nice blue energy triangle.
####################### Repeat for the "Y"-marked things.
Drop down and take the Rocket Launcher and bring down 4 more Skyward
Interceptors, then there's a cutscene and you find yourself onto a big
platform towed by the ship where Zero is in.
Platform being towed through the sky
------------------------------------
First of all you can't use Time Rewind, finishing moves, and can't even play
bastard and push enemies off the platform. And without those it takes forever
to kill all the Skyguard Light Infantries and Skyward Rippers that arrive
after a while.
My strategy to stay alive was to corner one or two enemies, do the spinning
move and spam level 1 spells, especially Heavy Strike. In all this, equipping
things that help maintain rage are essential.
After like 2 minutes and a half, a cut scene shows a friend of us severing
the cable between the ship and your platform, forcing Ayumi to jump off and
land on a nearby place.
Balcony
-------
Listen to the fairy dragon and collect [Strange note Page 5] near the
building, then activate the switch to power another transportation tunnel.
Portal area and detention zone
------------------------------
5x Skyguard Light Infantries rush towards you, however unlike the last time
you have full reign over time and movements. Go down for 3x Locusts and
another Light Infantry that arrives shortly after.
4 more are right behind the corner. Enter the next room and activate the two
switches using your Order spell - but guess what, there's a Slasher lurking
inside!
Exit (he doesn't follow you outside), go back, grab [Strange note Page 6]
inside the cell next to Zero's, skip cut scene, head outside. Zero will make
it through the portal (of course) but you won't (that's your luck right
there): a Skyguard Commander appears and shuts off the portal, then Ayumi asks
a question and he's all like "sure, I'll tell you the whole story in detail,
so you'll know who to visit next".
BOSS FIGHT - Skyguard Commander II
----------------------------------
It's the very same boss from level 4, risen again from the Tree of Order;
however he got new skills and a cute blue energy shield. To defeat him you
must use the provided Rocket Launchers. For this reason it's advised to equip
gear that increases health, resistance to ranged damage, speed, and the like.
He stays mostly airborne this time, summoning Skyguard Rippers, spinning
around and scattering missiles; sometimes he likes to go down and immediately
rush at you on his knees, creating a huge freezing shock wave: it's so fast
it's hard to anticipate, so stay on your toes. When he's on the ground he
dashes a lot, however he only stays for a few seconds before taking off.
If you see him floating in the air and turning around never giving you his
back, it means he has just summoned 2 or 3 Rippers and is charging the
spinning move.
The Rippers as always will throw a beacon that calls for an air strike: you
can kick it back to enjoy the commander getting showered, in fact you might
want to leave 1 Ripper alive.
The good news in all this mess is that he takes damage when hit on the
shield, which is good because it's almost impossible to hit him anywhere
else.
Once you (temporarily) kill him go through the portal.
______________________________________________________________________________
6.8 Level 8: Brutal Lands (6NBRL)
Treasure chests: 3 Journal Pages: 5
This level has a nice snowy setting that reminded me of Lost Planet. It has a
couple of hard bosses, some tough new enemies, and minor lame things here and
there. On with the show.
Upon entering the level, you notice that Ayumi has changed costume again: the
Winter Costume is now unlocked. Little side note here, where is she taking
these costumes from? It made sense in Tomb Raider, since she'd leave her home
and go to places, but Ayumi just slew a huge boss, and jumped into a
teleporter. Ehy, maybe it's them that "dress" users according to their
destination, who knows.
Stop over thinking and go down. 4x Brutal Zombie Fighters appear near an
Altar. It has no new active skills, but a couple of new passives:
% Slide Freeze
Your Slide Attack starts to freeze enemies
% Air Attack Range
It improves the attack range of your weapons when you're hanging on a
flying enemy
Go through the door, jump the cliff, and go open the hidden chest #14 up
ahead for a [Magic Ring], then go down the tunnel. Inside the chaos zone there
are more or less 10x Chaos Monsters. When they're dead, two Brutal Mauls
appear. They're tough at close range and keep spamming a freezing attack by
slamming their hammer on the ground; stay back where the shock wave can't hit
you.
Grab [Strange analysis Page 1] nearby, destroy the obelisk and proceed.
Frozen corals
-------------
A cutscene shows a coral floating up in the air, however the others are
frozen on the ground. It goes like this: slaughter 5x Brutal Zombie Fighters,
shoot the first frozen coral, fight a Brutal Maul, destroy the second block of
ice, fight 5 more Brutal Zombie Fighters, shoot the third block of ice. Note
that to fight the enemies you can climb up the ledge and safely take them out
from up there.
Alternate strategy: You don't need to fight those guys at all: carefully jump
on the chain running across the walls and destroy all the ice blocks from
there, so you dash away without stepping foot on the ground.
On the other side, turn around towards the pit and go down on a small ledge
on the left to grab [Strange analysis Page 2].
Abandoned junkyard
------------------
It isn't exactly a junkyard, but that's what it looked like to me when I came
here.
Use time rewind to grab - how should I call it? - Experimental Freezing Laser
Array, or EFLA. No, wait, it sucks, let's just call it SubZero's Hand (nice,
but it's actually called [Freezer Launcher] in the game). Enemies stay frozen
for one second, so you either use time rewind, or quickly drop SubZero's and
immediately switch to the rifle to break enemies into pieces. Learn to be
quick at it because this area is infested with 5x Brutal Mauls. Around the
corner, use an Order spell on the switches near the Chaos Gate to immediately
kill all Brutal Mauls around (or most of them anyway).
Before proceeding, go where the Chaos Gate was, and grab [Strange analysis
Page 3] from the L-shaped cul-the-sac. Use the Altar and climb up.
Terraced garden
---------------
Kill 2x Brutal Mauls and dash to the Maul Commander, hit him using time
rewind until he drops his [STRIKEOUT SubZero's Hand] [Freezer Launcher]. Use
it against him, then climb up. Repeat. Repeat again.
Alternate strategy: Ignore Brutal Mauls and dash to the Commander, then
unleash as many clones of yourself as you can to have him drop his Freezer.
When he does that, he becomes stunned for a brief moment; turn him into a
block of ice and move to the very corner on your left (facing where you came
from) to kill those pesky Mauls: with a bit of luck their freezing wave will
not reach you.
Open the door to enter a cave.
Frozen cave
-----------
When you arrive where the path goes down to your right, 2x Brutal Zombie
Fighters comes at you; however before proceeding watch for a high ledge on the
left, and go open a hidden chest #15 that reveals [Swords of Magic], then go
back to your route.
Huge underground pit with tree
------------------------------
Several Restless Zombies are down there, and those can't be killed by your
weapons or magic, so you need to use the cannon on the opposite side. After
you've brought them back to dust, destroy the obelisk and go open yet another
hidden chest #16 with a [Rifle of the Chaos Stone].
Suspended bridge
----------------
To be honest, I never trust suspended bridges in any work of fiction, because
they tend to break too easily, so imagine how I cautious I was then stepping
on it the first time. Turns out, a ghetto boss is awaiting for you here,
called Brutal Lich, but he isn't Brutal at all. After the cutscene, shoot him
a couple of times. He returns into 6 clones, floating in the air. You can
either kill them airborne or from the ground. Memorize which corals are safe
to jump off from when you're done.
As usual destroy the obelisk to remove the barrier. Grab the clearly visible
[Strange analysis Page 4] and go down to the left. Don't jump on the lake
because you'll die, and you'll have to fight the Lich again.
Stormy cave
-----------
Several tough Chaos-Converted Humans are up ahead, and as usual throw
grenades and wields rifles as powerful as yours. Go down the U-turning tunnel
and grab [Strange analysis Page 5], then listen carefully to what the Fiery is
saying.
Go up the path and use the Altar. No new spells, only one new passive
ability:
% Elemental Stun
If you inflame a frozen enemy, or freeze a burning enemy, you may stun it
for a short period of time
BOSS FIGHT - Vicar of Chaos
---------------------------
Listen how he tries to trick Ayumi's trust...
Before you can deal any lasting damage to the Vicar you have to kill 2x Maul
Commanders that act as his healers - they never move and don't attack unless
you get near them. Abusing Time Rewind is obviously essential during the whole
fight. Once they're dead the Vicar becomes vulnerable; try to fight airborne
because honestly I couldn't kill him grounded, due to that ridiculous spinning
attack he spams all the time, which also throws ice projectiles all over the
place; plus he also moves very fast.
Upon defeating him you get to keep his awesome [Chaos Swords of the Vicar].
______________________________________________________________________________
6.9 Level 9: Brutal Town (6NBRT)
Treasure chests: 4 Journal Pages: 6
This place is HELL; lot of encounters, lot of enemies at the same time, lot
of Skyguard vs Chaos brawls to be seen, treasures in crazy places, lot of
frustration.
Floating platform
-----------------
Go outside; on the other side there'll be Chaos humans fighting Skyguards. A
Skyguard Interceptor appears after a short while; luckily there's a rocket
launcher nearby.
The treasure: I guess you've noticed your compass by now. Face where the
teleporter is and shoot the frozen coral; then climb up and go claim [Swords
of the Blood Ruby] from hidden chest #17.
On the other side, climb up the balcony to the right and enter the door. The
Slasher lurks inside, guarding a switch. Go back outside and enter the
opposite door. 3 Humans appear; then pick up [Strange note Page 7] and
activate the switch. Go back outside once again, kill those 4 idiots and
finally go through the main gate.
Through main gate
-----------------
You'll find Brutal Zombie Fighters fighting against Brutal Zombie Heavy,
however as soon as you attack anyone they team up against you (nice!)
Go to the right (considering where you came from), destroy the two magic
locks and step on the switch. Then go through the left opening and go up the
steps. There'll be a pit with more Zombie Fighters fighting Skyguard Light
Infantries with another Skyguard Interceptor joining the party in a matter of
seconds (Rocket launcher conveniently provided). Go through the door.
You'll land on a narrow passage with high walls; go around the corner and
punish humans and Rippers (kick their beacons back or you'll receive an
air-strike on your head).
Watch out for the spikes around the corner and go use that rocket launcher to
clear the next area: should you fall down, there's a frozen coral to help you
return up here.
Before proceeding, use your compass to locate hidden chest #18 that contains
[Mysterious Ring] which isn't exactly useful in this level.
Go through the opened passage: a Maul Commander spawns in a recessed area. I
suggest you fight him at close range because there's no safe place from his
blasts. Proceed forward, kill 3x Brutal Lich and go down. 2x Brutal Zombie
Fighters and a Brutal Zombie Heavy are here. You can fight them on the stairs
as they're unlikely to climb up. Only then you're able to use the Altar, which
doesn't have anything new.
Jump on the floating moving platform: there'll be a lone Chaos Monster
somewhere (location seems random).
If you're after the hidden treasure chest #19, it's on the ledge on the left
side of the divider wall: it hides [Swords of the Golem Age].
A boss' energy bar should appear on your screen now: it's for the Tribal
Zombie Shaman Chieftain, aka "Fatso", up ahead.
Kill more Skyward Rippers and enter the chaos-infested room. Go outside again
and you'll see fatso getting missiled by two Skyguard Interceptors - he seems
pretty tough (technically he's simply invulnerable right now)
Shoot the frozen coral on the opposite side, but don't jump just yet.
Go grab the [Strange note page 8] on the left side of the balcony, and *then*
activate the switch on the other side.
There'll be one more coral to free from ice on a narrow back alley, which
leads directy to Fatso's platform. No Interceptor should be present. Fatso is
extremely weak against Heavy Strike.
When he's dead go open that door and climb up the stairs.
Courtyard
---------
4x Brutal Zombie Fighters spawn. After they're dead, 2x Liches appear in the
sky, after them, a ship drops a Skyward Heavy Infantry. At this point it
should be clear, they're just throwing enemies at you to slow you down.
When he's finally down, approach the door with no mechanism, go back outside
and enter the opening on the left. Climb up, grab [Strange note Page 9] and go
through the narrow window to reach the other room. Operate the two switches at
the same time, jump down and enter the now open passage.
Slaughterhouse
--------------
Inside the pit, 3 Brutal Mauls and 2 Skyward Heavy Infantries are beating the
crap out of each other. To get rid of the Infantries dispatch those Desert
Zombie Spearmen (remember them?) guarding those cannons, then kill whatever is
left inside the pit.
Pick up [Strage note Page 10] on the right but watch out, a Chaos-Converted
Human is around the corner
Courtyard outside Temple
------------------------
Several enemies here: Lichs, Rippers, Brutal Zombies, Light Infantries and
whatnot.
Note: your compass is gonna yell for a while that there's a treasure in this
area but first you need to lower the draw bridge to reach it.
Go through the door, visit the Altar (nothing new) and go up the spiral
stairway.
More and more Zombie Fighters and a Brutal Zombie Heavy appear, then activate
the switch for yet another Skyward Heavy Infantry to appear. Oh man, enough
already!
Open the blue door and pickup [Strange analysis Page 5] at the bottom of the
stairs for another chaos-y courtyard. Mines are all over the place and of
course there are Chaos monsters lurking. Activate the switch to lower the
drawbridge. You're shown a Slasher on some stairs, but that's for later.
Go back outside for 3 humans and an Interceptor: you don't need to face the
humans if you're fast.
Temple entrance
---------------
On the other side of the drawbridge there are a billion of enemies, but the
good news is that there's a rocket launcher to blast them with.
At this point it's safe to go grab treasure #20 that sits on a balcony on the
building you entered this place from (right when facing the drawbridge from
the outside) - jump from the second coral to get there. It contains an amulet,
[Crystal Tear].
When you're done operate the mechanism and bring the Rocket Launcher with
you!
Elevator room
-------------
There's a [Strange analysis Page 7] behind the portal, but first... Chaos
Monsters on walls, really? After those, Brutal Zombie Fighters and a Brutal
Zombie Heavy arrive. Toast them to unlock the blue door. You don't need to
bring the rocket launcher inside.
Why? Because it's laser room again! Only catch: whole room is under chaos
control. You should know how to do it: get near a laser barrier, cast Order
spell and time yourself for a safe dash. You might want to equip the
Mysterious Ring to increase Ayumi's speed a little. Activate the switch.
Open the dark purple door and shoot rockets at the Maul Commander until he
drops his Freezer Launcher; turn him into an icecream and activate the switch.
When you exit, since you must wait for the elevator to arrive, a Chaos Slasher
materialises from the portal to keep you company. Usually you can get him
stuck in front of the elevator's door while you safely wait behind the
portal.
Board the elevator to go to the tenth and final level!
______________________________________________________________________________
6.10 Level 10: Dragon Temple (6NDRT)
Treasure chests: 0 Journal Pages: 0
This is it, the final level! I'll try to spoil as little as possible.
Run up 'till the huge door, then go meet the Altar for the last time (in my
first playthrough, I was able to get all passive abilities short of two).
Open the door to finally reach the Dragon Sphere: we need to switch it on. Go
to the other door and operate the two switches.
Switches'n'Laser area
---------------------
In here, the very last yet first "laser plus time"-based puzzle: there are
three switches, and they must be operated together for the door to open,
however two of them are protected by lasers.
Step on the middle one (#2) and stay there for a while (10 seconds are
enough), rewind until your temporal clone "leaves" the switch, go activate
switch #1. Stay there until you hear that Time Rewind is about to expire, then
dash out. Approach switch #3 and rewind time near the lasers.
Note: 10 seconds are counted from the instant the switch engages, it doesn't
take into account the 3 seconds you need to wait for all the gears to rotate.
What, Skyguards architecture all of a sudden? And what about those switches?
Honestly I couldn't figure out what to do with those, I tried to activate all
of them at the same time but to no avail, thus I trusted the Dragon Fiery's
word and jumped into the chasm.
The flight scene brings you just around the corner. The next part is very
easy thanks to Ayumi's strengthened powers. Other than the increased power and
defense, she constantly regenerates Rage as long as there are enemies.
Chambers
--------
You'll have to fly up from chamber to chamber, killing almost every type of
enemy you've encountered thus far (but I would have liked a couple of Skyguard
Heavy Infantry and dozen of Rippers); you'll also get to finally kill the
Slasher that has followed you for the whole game.
To dash up, look up and target the hatch, then tap the "jump/fly" button
repeatedly to fly - don't dash until the reticule appears. Keep going up until
you return to your tracks, kill some more chaos monsters and enter the Chaos
Stone room again.
BOSS FIGHT - Keeper of Chaos part 1
-----------------------------------
Being this the final boss, it's gonna be long and painful. First
of all don't bother with the 4 generators surrounding the room.
The Keeper throws fireballs if you're far, swings his sword and smacks you
with his fists if you're close. He also hovers for a while.
Note
----
The strategy explained here is a result of several separate successful
attempts both in Normal and Hard mode. I'm aware this so called "strategy" has
you suffer heavy damage, but since Heal Points are constantly restored in
Dragon Form I figured I could at least use them.
To bring his magic shield down I went under him and comboed Ignition and
Freeze; with the shield down, I spammed Freeze and Heavy Strike with the
"main" Ayumi, and then I would spam Ignition and Freeze with the clones. It
took around 2-3 rounds to bring his health to ~25%, which triggers a cut
scene.
BOSS FIGHT - Keeper of Chaos part 2
-----------------------------------
Michelle and Zero joins the party. Michelle will be the attacker,
Zero sentinel and Ayumi medic. No, wait, it doesn't work like that... What was
happening? I see, the Keeper. The Skyguards joins the party as well, as
they're trying to overthrow his power, meaning they're an added annoyance (but
they will not attack you), because you're assigned to distract the angry
Keeper while Michelle and Zero reactivate the Chaos Sphere by destroying the 4
leeches that are draining its power.
Considering you're back in human form, things aren't gonna be as easy as
before: you can't use Time Rewind and you lost all the Heal points you gained
while in Dragon Form. For this reason you might want to equip gear that boosts
health and preserves Rage; you're not supposed to deal damage at this time (as
with "Fatso" in level 9, I believe the Keeper is invulnerable during this
phase).
When your team mates are done, the Chaos Sphere activates and another cut
scene kicks in.
Your team will be back inside what I think it's the Guild's temple or
something. Go towards the big gate for yet another cut scene.
BOSS FIGHT - Keeper of Chaos part 3
-----------------------------------
Switch back to damage dealing equipment, because it's about time
we end this fight. But there's a catch: he's back to full health, and now he
only takes damage when ALL the three of you attacks him, plus he'll be
summoning Brutal Zombie Fighters and Chaos Observers. Michelle and Zero will
always prioritize fighting monsters meaning you only get to hit the boss
during a very brief window. After a while he summons more monsters and pushes
you all the way back to the sphere with a powerful blast.
When you're done, congratulation on beating Blades of Time and enjoy the
credits!
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7 Dismal Swamp Walkthrough (07DSW)
Not ready yet.
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8 Frequently Asked Questions (08FAQ)
No one has actually sent in any question and probably no one will, so I'll
make some up
Q 1: Will I be able to get every skill?
A: Of course, dude. Go to any Hard difficulty level that has an Altar (levels
1, 2, 3, 4, 8 and 9).
Q 2: How do I defeat this huge thing? It keeps on healing himself!!
A: I know, I hated him too. But at the end he's a nice guy and it's fun to
kill with with a stab and hear him crying. Go to level 4's section for a
detailed strategy.
Q 3: How do I unlock the "schoolgirl" and "summer" costumes?
A: I don't know dude, I'm still trying to figure that out myself.
Q 4: Is this game any good?
A: It's a nice and fun game, with a game play taken from several games. But
isn't good in any of the aspects it borrowed. Still, it's lot of fun and
the more you play the more you overcome its flaws.
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9 Contributing Readers (09CON)
No one yet.
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10 Thanks (10TNX)
No one in particular except those that made the tools I've been using:
Notepad++, PHP, thesaurus.com, en.wiktionary.org, google.com, Fraps,
VirtualDUB, MeGUI, AviSynth, TotalCommander